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SilverKnight92
08-08-2017, 01:32 AM
Hello guys, I need some help with an annoying issue.
I've just completed my very first build using a Pico Crumble (Light Version), wired with an R-G-RB tri-cree XP-E2 and a 18650 removable battery. Blue and green dies are resistored with a 1 Ohm resistor and the red die got a 1.2 Ohm resistor.
When I pop the battery in everything works good: I press the switch and the soundboard revives, then I got sound, I got every color and FoC as It's supposed to be. The problem comes when I turn the saber off and leave it on the shelf fore more than 10 minutes, then when I grab it back and hit the momentary switch to turn it on again...nothing happens. If I pop the battery out, re-insert it and then hit the momentary switch twice the saber turns on again.
I double checked every solder joint and wiring, and I'm sure there are no bridging or exposed/pinched wires anywhere.

Could you help me to understand what's the problem? :mad:
Thanks.

Sidd
08-09-2017, 05:34 AM
I had a very similar problem with my Pico. I ended up having to swap the battery a couple times till I got it to act right. I ended up pulling the battery and setting the saber aside so i am not sure if its still having the problem, i can check later if I remember

SilverKnight92
08-09-2017, 05:56 AM
I had a very similar problem with my Pico. I ended up having to swap the battery a couple times till I got it to act right. I ended up pulling the battery and setting the saber aside so i am not sure if its still having the problem, i can check later if I remember

So do you think it's all about the battery? I'm very worried about that, 'cause It's my first build :cry:
Can you please check if your Pico still has the same problem?

Sidd
08-10-2017, 03:34 PM
So do you think it's all about the battery? I'm very worried about that, 'cause It's my first build :cry:
Can you please check if your Pico still has the same problem?


I am not sure if it was battery OR if it was simply my rebooting it enough times to get it to work

I will test it tomorrow morning

Sidd
08-26-2017, 04:43 PM
Sorry it took so long to get back

After swapping to the battery it Pico is working fine. I think I just have a bad battery in my bunch

jdubzw
05-21-2018, 09:48 PM
I'm not sure what causes it, but on my pico sometimes it'll go into deep sleep, but it'll still drain the battery dry once in a while. If I recharge that same battery it's totally fine, but I have to swap out a new battery and everything is good again.

bigkevin61
05-22-2018, 12:03 AM
I'm not sure what causes it, but on my pico sometimes it'll go into deep sleep, but it'll still drain the battery dry once in a while. If I recharge that same battery it's totally fine, but I have to swap out a new battery and everything is good again.
Are you using a Li-iOn battery from TCSS?
In deep sleep, a fully charged batter should last MONTHS, (if wired correctly). I’d check your wiring (or post a schematic to have someone double check).
If you are running a different battery solution (an e-bay cheap battery), you may not have a high mAh capacity, and it would drain quicker.

And, you can over discharge unprotected batteries, and that can lead to damaged batteries, and that could cause issues (BAD THINGS) when trying to charge.

jdubzw
05-23-2018, 02:58 PM
I'm using the 18650 Trust Fire batteries from TCSS. They're the single batteries that are in the 18650 battery holder from TCSS also.

So now I'm really super curious about what is causing that. I've had nothing to compare it to because I've always just removed the battery, put it on the charger which it indicated it needed to charge and then put the new one in and that one then lasted say like a week of use playing with the kids.

What can cause this? I've checked the wiring today and everything appears to be good. Everything works exactly the way it should from a performance standpoint. Is it possible BOTH batteries are bad??

bigkevin61
05-23-2018, 09:32 PM
Over discharging non protected batteries can cause “bad things” and lead to poor capacity issues, or worse, but those Trustfires from the store are protected, which means it should be harder to damage.
Are you using a charger from TCSS?
I usually use the Panasonic cells, though I do have a set of those Trustfires for another (incomplete) project. I haven’t used them besides bench testing, so I can’t the say if what you are experiencing is normal.
It also depends on how many Amps your setup uses while on. Each die would be pulling about 1000mA (and color mixing adds up, white would pull 3000mA), and the board will be using some amps to process sensors, and power the speaker (though I don’t know what the amp draw on an “in-use” pico Crumble is). Deep sleep should only draw 11nA (nano-amps), which is why in theory, and fully charged saber left off will keep a charge for months.
So if you are using the saber for a about an hour or more over the course of a week, you are probably getting close to “low battery”, and if you let it sit like that for more days, then needing to swap & recharge when you go back and try to turn it on again makes some sense.
If you have a fully charged battery, and leave it off (deep sleep) for a week, and the battery is drained, then you have an issue.
Did you change any of the soundboard settings? Is it possible you changed the time it takes to go into deep sleep, and it is not “off” when you think it is?

For comparison, a 3.7v 2600mAh protected battery from TCSS in my son’s saber will last about and hour to an hour fifteen of total runtime. I have a Deep Red and Amber in parallel for the main and White for “on top FOC” running a NBv2, with 2 accent LEDs and a PLI. This is about expected performance for my setup.

SilverKnight92
05-24-2018, 12:35 AM
At this point I think there is a bug in the first version of the Pico Crumble, or maybe our soundboards come from a batch of defective products. Luckily the new Pico 2.0 that I've installed in one of my sabers doesn't have none of these annoyng issues and works perfectly.

jdubzw
05-24-2018, 10:07 PM
Thanks for the info Kevin.

I'd say I'm probably using it about 30-45 minutes then it's going into deep sleep, and the last time it happened about 2 weeks later I went to fire it up and it never came on. Swapped the battery out and it was roughly the same lifespan. Checking on the documentation and going into the menu, it's definitely going into deep sleep (I'm also getting the "wake up" sound when I fire it up the next day). I'm using a RGB Cree XP-e2 with it if that makes any big difference.

Interesting to know Silver... I don't know which version I have. When did the 2.0's come out? I bought my parts back in early 2017, but it doesn't indicate if it's a v1 or v2.

This is kind of why I was thinking the logical next step for me was to install a recharge port. If I'm going to end up swapping batteries every couple of weeks it seems like a lot better quality of life to just plug it in before I go to work.

bigkevin61
05-25-2018, 06:17 PM
This is kind of why I was thinking the logical next step for me was to install a recharge port. If I'm going to end up swapping batteries every couple of weeks it seems like a lot better quality of life to just plug it in before I go to work.

I never charge any of my batteries/sabers unattended.
Yes, in theory, with protected batteries and the TCSS smart charger, everything should be fine, but with li-ion I’m not taking any chances.

jdubzw
05-29-2018, 04:50 PM
Just an update on this, I think it was actually the charger that was the problem.

Once I got the recharge port put in, I plugged in the charger and it took a good 6 hours to fully charge the better. The original charger NEVER took that long before it went green. The LEDs are noticeably brighter also. My thought is that the batteries were never getting fully charged in the first place, so I may have just been putting in batteries half charged or less. Since making the conversion I haven't had any of the sleep/wake problems.

bigkevin61
05-29-2018, 07:18 PM
Glad to hear it is working now!

There are a LOT of things to test when you have an issue, you just hope the things that are supposed to work (the charger) isn’t the problem!

k6gad
12-18-2018, 08:21 AM
I have found that the battery holder is at fault sometimes. I have had to add a dab of solder on the + end of the battery to make contact with the terminal. Once that was done it worked like a charm. I use EBL protected 18650 3000 mAh Li-ion batteries. I think they may be slightly shorter that some of the others. Anyway...... that was a long winded way to say check your voltage at the terminal on each end of the battery holder with the battery in place....